Fever Pitch or Heart Glitch?
by Serafi
Summary: Ai invites Cecil to stay the night in his and his juniors' dorm after the radiator in Cecil's room breaks down. What starts out as awkward quickly escalates into something entirely different; Cecil finds Ai's shock and embarrassment odd, and mistakes his blush for a fever.


**For Kanna-chan94.**

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><p>"Thank you for letting me stay over!" Cecil said quickly and took a slight bow before entering the dorm room. Awkward situations always made him tense as is, but ever since his rigorous training with Camus the pressure to treat others as equals increased tenfold. Aijima Cecil wasn't the spoiled royal who didn't have a care in the world anymore. "I can't believe our radiator broke down during a blizzard…"<p>

Ai politely offered him a seat at the small table in the center of the room. "The electrical routing in this building, yours and Camus's dorm in particular, was faulty at best. I'm honestly surprised it held out this long."

"Where are Natsuki and Syo?" asked the prince, glancing around the room for his fellow classmates and friends.

"Laundry," answered Ai promptly, opening the cover of his laptop. "You needn't feel out of place, Aijima Cecil. Have a seat." He gestured to the spot adjacent to his.

Cecil shyly complied and sat on the cushion. Agnapolis was a country with a warmer climate, and he despised the cold. Despite the room having a radiator in working condition, it was still chilly.

"_It's impolite to trouble your host with such triviality," _Camus reminded him somewhere in the back of his head. _"If you're uncomfortable then you'll just have to bear with it. That's what those born of nobility are expected to do."_

Ai turned to his head. "Is something the matter?"

Cecil whipped around and shook his head, stammering, "N-No, not at all! I'm fine!"

"If you're cold then just say so," said the android, standing to fetch a blanket from his bed. His voice tinkled like a little bell, "I'd be a terrible host if I let you freeze to death."

The prince tried to politely decline and reassure Ai that he was fine, but the cyanette draped the blanket over his shoulders anyway. Cecil sank beneath the light blue fleece with a frown on his face. "I don't want to trouble you for – "

"Did Camus teach you that?" interjected Ai with a sigh after. He closed his laptop cover again. "His philosophy isn't entirely flawed and his manners are impeccable, but I also feel that his training regimen can be a bit impractical at time."

Cecil's breath caught in his throat as Ai shimmied under the blanket with him, poking his head out beside him. His heart thumped loudly and he was sure his face glowed like a neon sign at the close proximity. The sweet scent of mint and lavender tickled his nose and beckoned him closer. He sniffed the air and the scent almost led him right into Ai's hair.

"Oh Gods," he said with a gulp after glimpsing Ai's quizzical expression, "I'm sorry, Mikaze-senpai! I just…I smelled…I…Ugh."

Ai took a strand of his own hair and sniffed it. "Hmm. It does smell nice, doesn't it? It's the brand of shampoo I use. I showered only an hour before your arrival."

_God, _his voice was like fucking _fluffy, effeminate magic._

"It's a very pleasant scent. Light and not too overpowering. I um…I like it." The prince averted his gaze. What he really wanted to say was how talented Ai was, and how much he idolized him and his work ethic.

A small smile graced the android's lips. "You've undergone quite a metamorphoses since your debut in the academy," he said with mirth tickling his voice. "Camus is a fine instructor, and you're a very talented performer. He must be proud."

Cecil heaved a lofty sigh. "I wish he'd tell me himself. He never seems satisfied…"

"It's only because he wants to push you and expand your horizons. I feel the same about Natsuki and Syo," explained Ai in his signature monotone. "But you're all well worth the time and effort; it's as I said, you're very talented." He moved closer to Cecil beneath the blanket, and to his surprise, the teen didn't shy away from him this time. "Ah!"

The prince leaned over and pecked Ai's cheek, smiling brightly afterwards. (He almost looked like Otoya for a second.)

"Thank you, Mikaze-senpai," he chirped and scooted a little closer to the cyanette. "Hearing a compliment from someone as talented as yourself makes me believe in all the hard work I've done with Camus-senpai!"

Ai sat there without a word in his head.

"I-It means a lot to me. I've always idolized you and…" Cecil stopped himself and blushed, laughing mid-sentence. "Natsuki and Syo are lucky to have you for a mentor." One of his eyebrows arched high into his forehead when he caught another glimpse of Ai's face. "Uh, Mikaze-senpai? Are you all right? You look a little feverish…"

The android flinched when Cecil's warm hand laid against his forehead. Cecil leaned in closer to study his face and he opened his mouth to say something, and that's when the front door flew open.

"We're _back!" _sang Natsuki as he paraded into the room with Syo trailing after him. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the scene that spread out before him in the middle of their room. "Ehh?"

Syo ran smack into his backside and grumbled something about Natsuki being an oaf and then he peered around the taller boy. "What the…? Uh, are we interrupting something?"

Cecil frowned. "I think Mikaze-senpai may be sick…"

"Ooh, I'll make you something nice and hot then, senpai!" Natsuki strolled into their small kitchen area with Syo hot on his heels. "How about some soup, ne?"

"No, NatsukI!" Syo tugged on his arms and tried to wrench him away from the cabinets. "If senpai eats anything you make then he'll _really _get sick!"

Cecil took a deep breath and wrapped his arms around Ai underneath the blanket, bringing him closer. "I-I know it's a bit unconventional, but this is how we cured fever in my homeland. Um, we shared body heat…"

Ai wasn't about to tell him _why _he felt warm, but he also didn't protest being coddled in such a manner. Cecil's calm presence was a welcome distraction to the usual skylarking his juniors were into. He laid his head on Cecil's shoulders and sighed.

His 'sickness' wasn't about to be cured any time soon.

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><p><strong>Merry Christmas, boys 'n gals.<strong>


End file.
